In the 8 months of 2023, the total equity turnover, excl. blocks amounted to EUR 179.9m, with an average daily turnover of EUR 1.1m. Furthermore, the most traded stocks were Span, Podravka, and Valamar Riviera, which on average, accounted for 31% of the total equity turnover on the exchange.
In this overview, we took a look at the development of the equity turnover on the Zagreb Stock Exchange, how it has changed in terms of the average daily turnover, as well as the most traded stocks on the exchange during the 2023 period.
Equity turnover by months on ZSE (January 2023 – August 2023, EURm)
Source: ZSE, InterCapital Research
As we can see, the turnover on the exchange (excl. blocks) has been all over the place in 2023, but the trend in the last couple of months has led to an increased intensity of trading. However, besides the overall turnover, it is prudent to also look at the average daily turnover, as the working days and as such the time to trade vary between the months. The average number of working days amounted to 21, and the total amounted to 167.
Average daily turnover each month on the ZSE (January 2023 – August 2023, EURm)
Source: ZSE, InterCapital Research
The average daily turnover, as well as the overall turnover picked up in June 2023, peaking at EUR 1.66m in August 2023. What is also interesting is that there has also been a reduction in the prevalence of block trades in the total turnover. In fact, in the period from 2017 to 2022, the block trades on average, accounted for 23.7% of the total equity turnover, peaking in 2022 at 36.8%. On the other hand, in the 8M of 2023, blocks accounted for 6.6% of the total equity turnover, on average.
Turning our attention to the most traded companies, Span recorded a total equity turnover of EUR 22.9m, accounting on average, for 12.7% of the total equity turnover. Following Span there is Podravka at EUR 21.5m, accounting for 11.9%, Valamar Riviera, at EUR 15.3m, or 8.5%, Zagrebačka banka at EUR 13.3m, or 7.4%, and Hrvatski Telekom, at EUR 11.6m, or 6.4%.
Top 3 most traded stocks by months (January 2023 – August 2023, EURm)
| wdt_ID | Date | Most traded stock | 2nd most traded stock | 3rd most traded stock |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan-23 | HT | PODR | RIVP |
| 2 | Feb-23 | SPAN | RIVP | ZABA |
| 3 | Mar-23 | SPAN | RIVP | ZABA |
| 4 | Apr-23 | SPAN | RIVP | ZABA |
| 5 | May-23 | HT | RIVP | TUHO |
| 6 | Jun-23 | PODR | SPAN | ADRS2 |
| 7 | Jul-23 | SPAN | ZABA | HPB |
| 8 | Aug-23 | PODR | SPAN | RIVP |
Source: ZSE, InterCapital Research
Finally, turning our attention to stocks which not just in terms of volume but also consistency and time turned out to be the companies with the largest investor interest, Span was the most traded stock for 4 out of 8 months, followed by Podravka and Hrvatski Telekom, with 2 months each, respectively. The 2nd most traded stock on a monthly basis was Valamar Riviera, which recorded 4 out of 8 months of being the most traded stock, followed by Span, with 2 months, as well as Zagrebačka banka and Podravka with 1 month each, respectively. Finally, Zagrebačka banka was the 3rd most traded stock in terms of months, recording 3 months of being the 3rd most traded stock, followed by Valamar Riviera with 2 months, followed by Adris Grupa (pref.), HPB, and Turisthotel, with 1 month each, respectively.
YTD returns of select Croatian companies* (2023, %)
Source: Bloomberg, InterCapital Research
*Includes all the companies that were at least once in the top 10 most traded companies during 2023
In terms of how this reflects on returns, Podravka recorded an increase of 75%, followed by HPB at 73%, Končar at 65%, and AD Plastik at 50%. The most traded company, Span, recorded an increase of 41%, albeit it should be noted that the stock has been on the rise for most of the year, only starting to decline recently. Most of the companies that were the most traded recorded double-digit returns, excluding only Valamar Riviera, Arena Hospitality Group, Atlantska Plovidba, and Ericsson NT. Ericsson NT is the only one of these companies to record a negative return.
